I'm a week-and-a-half short of having had my smart for a year, with just about 9,000 miles driven and somewhere around 40 trips to various gas stations, so I've gotten a pretty good feel for the accuracy (or lack of) regarding the fuel gauge.
For the most part, however, it's been pretty predictable. I reset my trip meter at each fill-up, and the number of miles travelled between the time each tick of the gauge corresponded more or less to the rough mpg calculated at the next fill. Most of my driving's in-city, so the mpg isn't stellar, but it's been in the low 30s, and that's roughly how many miles the car travelled between ticks of the fuel gauge. Usually, the first tick had to be discounted -- it was most often too high -- but the others were reliable.
But the last two fills have been freaky, to say the least. On a fill after a day-long road trip, the ticks started disappearing after less than 25 miles. Then they slowed way down and the last couple of ticks lasted a long, long time. On the next fill, I ended up with a calculated mpg that was actually a little higher than usual.
Now, on that fill, the first tick disappeared after 15 miles. The second's gone after less than 35. That's never happened before.
It's definitely going in on my list of things for my one-year/10,000 mile checkup, but has anyone else had their fuel gauge suddenly start acting strangely after months of reliable service?
- Thanks Darrel.
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